Friday, February 12, 2010

Valentine's Day - From a Different Point of View

I had a recent email from a friend of mine from Romania who wanted to see more of my writing since apparently, according to her, I have a talent as a writer. So in this post about Valentine's, it is all words :)

so.........Valentine's Day, eh?

Whenever it is time for Valentine's Day, I cannot help but run through monologues in my head, examining the “true” meaning and nature of human relations.

I am a single guy, so this is probably my way of quietly pondering a day that was originally intended for singles to find love but was somehow turned into a commercialized event that is laser-like focused and wholly directed at couples; thus, reminding them of what they have to spend to satisfy, to a large degree, social expectations as well as reminding singles of what they don't have but ought to get, mostly, to get out of social pettiness and fit the overall social molds, all in a self-reinforcing rhythm.

It is truly fascinating to observe how humans behave overall, how they react to certain stimuli, and how they sometimes do things that defy logic, all in a rat-race-like attempt to fit and gain some sort of approval or acceptance. One cannot help but wonder if humans are beings that follow predictable patterns and thus are easily manipulated and influenced. No wonder that things like neural-linguistic programming or advertising work. No wonder that things like “Limited Offer”, “50% Off” , “buy one get one free” or “$1.99” all work. No wonder that many retailers make 25%+ of their yearly revenues on Feb 14th. ….etc

Having said all this, it is logically-inescapable and no surprise that the vast majority of human beings carry heavy burdens of debt, buy things they cannot afford, get loans they do not truly need, purchase things just because a teenage pop star has them, or buy extremely overpriced wrist watches, cell phones, cars...or, in these days, boxes of chocolate that were in no demand a few weeks ago. It is an inescapable result that depression, misery, suffering and suicide are so widely spread in society.

Thousands of years ago, the great Buddha said that desires are at the root of human suffering. When desires are let loose, allowed to take control over one's soul, brought into the fore front of human existence by being heavily exploited by commercialism that sell vanity; then humans are destined to not escape from the rat wheel in which they find themselves trapped, endlessly running towards freedom of the soul, all not knowing that the wheel goes around in circles. It is the sign of madness to continually do the same thing and expect different results.

Around 30,000 years ago, the first spark of human imagination came into existence. It was the first time during which humans have risen above the primitive animal-like stimulus/response behavior. It was the first time a gap had come into being between receiving a stimulus and producing a reaction. It is this extremely short gap, during which the mind applies higher-functioning logic and intelligence to asses the situation and produce a more intelligent response, that lead to human evolution and allowed human beings to get out of the jungle and set foot on the moon ! It is this gap that must be brought again into human thought in order to reach a more satisfying and meaningful existence.

People should not need a day in a year to remember to treasure their partner. They should not need a gift card company or a chocolate producer to remind them to make their significant other feels special, and that they are lucky to have found them amongst the billions of people on planet Earth during their lifetime which is but a small, insignificant blip of existence in an endless, mostly cold and dark universe.

I guess the point of all this rant is to infuse your life with joy. Cherish it, for we are all passing over a bridge. Find something that brings you meaning and elevates your soul rather than being bound to social molds and commercially inflated self-loathing habits and occasions. Do this, and you will not be enslaved or manipulated by vanity sellers.